


pyjama party

by pissedofsandwich



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Gen, M/M, happy birthday henry!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23126287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pissedofsandwich/pseuds/pissedofsandwich
Summary: 2021. Henry wakes up on the morning of his birthday to find a pyjama party in his kitchen.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 194





	pyjama party

Given that Henry doesn't often feel especially grateful to be alive, Henry appreciates that Alex doesn't plan anything grand for his birthday.

He knows that Alex thinks otherwise--not about having a small gathering for his birthday party; god knows they deserve some peace and quiet and privacy, of all people--as he keeps telling Henry how grateful he is to have Henry in his life, and it punches him in the guts, how much Henry wants to try to believe in it like Alex does, and though the dark thoughts still linger, Henry does his best.

Alex doesn't yell out, "Surprise!" No confetti is raining down from the ceiling as Henry trudges out of his bedroom the morning of his birthday. But the smell of breakfast wafts through the air from their kitchen, and Henry feels his heart softening when he walks in to find the rest of the Super Six standing there, all in pyjamas. When Bea sees him, she hops off the counter to squeeze him in a bear hug.

"Henry!" Pez bellows. "Happy birthday, sleepy-head!" 

He's wearing a silk red kimono and looking far too good for--he glances at the wall--seven in the morning. Nora and June blow him kisses, clad in a matching pyjama set of the same color. He grins at Pez as he reaches over to give him a bone-crushing hug. "When did y'all get here?" Henry asks, and hears June gasp scandalously.

"Did you just say _y'all_?" she says. She turns to Alex accusingly. "Alex, what have you done to Henry?"

Alex smirks widely, reaches over to press a kiss to Henry's temple, brief but sweet. "Happy birthday, sweetheart," he says privately, and then, to June, "I'm depogramming all the leftover colonialism out of him. It's God's work, alright?"

"I can't wait for you to slip up and say that in front of Gran," Bea says. "I bet she'd explode."

"What other American slangs are you teaching him, Alex?" Nora sounds far too interested. "Will we hear Henry use the word 'vibing' to describe a mood unironically somewhere in the near future?"

"Absolutely not," Henry says.

"Give it time," Alex says at the same time, and Henry feigns being offended. Alex looks up at him wolfishly. "Also, to answer your question, Bea and Pez flew in this morning, and Nora and June arrived last night." He gestures to the table, an antique, monstrosity of a furniture that his mother had insisted they furnish their Brownstone with, and that's when Henry notices the stack of fluffy pancakes, waffles, berries, and all the wonderful American breakfast food that he's come to love since being in New York.

"We're having a breakfast party," Alex says. 

Henry laughs. "Hence the pyjamas."

"Indeed," Alex says. "I know there's nothing more that you want more than lounging around in sweatpants while watching Return of the Jedi on your birthday--so, here it is."

Henry is so in love, he could die happy. He notices a pile of Jaffa cakes packages on the counter--must be courtesy of Bea--and gets so choked up suddenly with affection. Alex is so thoughtful. He pulls Alex into his arms and kisses the sleep-mussed curls on top of his head.

"Thank you," he whispers.

Alex glances up at him, shy suddenly. "Good?"

"So good," Henry nods, and knows exactly in that moment that he absolutely has to give Alex the ring he's kept in the pocket of his coat as soon as possible.

They move the plates from the table to in front of the television, where Pez has put on Return of the Jedi for them to watch. Henry observes June leaning on him, munching on a piece of crispy waffle dipped in maple syrup, dripping onto her thigh. Nora scoops it up with one finger and licks it, and June gets this weird look on her face that makes Henry turn away, and wonders when Alex, blissfully oblivious and focused on the battle of Endor, will find out about his sister and ex-girlfriend dating Henry's best friend.

He finds Bea already looking at him when he faces her, and there's a smile that's secret and private on her lips, and Henry instantly knows. For years, after the death of his father, they spend the morning of his birthday like this, eating breakfast while watching some mindless TV, Bea battling off anyone who seeks out Henry on that day. This feels familiar, Henry thinks, but this is so much more. _Better_.

Every birthday, he feels it like a reminder--how unfair that a man as amazing as his father died, and someone like him, a mangled, locked-up person, gets to experience a birthday every year. Gets older. For the longest time, Henry doesn't think he deserves it, wishes sometimes, during the darkest period, that he'd go to sleep the night before his birthday and just doesn't wake up. Ever.

But he is here, despite everything, eating sugary American breakfast, sandwiched between Bea and Alex, and realizes that his heart no longer feels so heavy. He's happy, he thinks, and doesn't even feel cautious about it, soaks himself in the warmth of Alex's shoulder against his, Nora and Pez fighting over the last piece of strawberry, June sighing and putting her face in her hands, and Bea, so solid and supportive next to him.

His family.

Happy birthday, she mouths, and Henry agrees wholeheartedly--it is.

**Author's Note:**

> casey said henry is watching rotj and eating cakes so that's what i wrote. happy birthday henry!


End file.
